by 5by5
Back to Work is an award winning talk show with Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discussing productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more. Hosted by Merlin Mann & Dan Benjamin.
513: A Preferred Testicle
DISCUSSED: life's relentlessness continues apace; Cash enjoyed Dan's modified Godfather trilogy; celebrating Lil' Inappropriate Books; a terrific recent use of "Layla"; some Inside Baseball talk about a recommended app segment; then, for the balance of the episode, your hosts start diving into Dan's exciting new acquisition and how best to put to good use. Posted on 13 January 2021 | 12:00 am |
512: You Have a Mustard Fetish
DISCUSSED: Merlin looks at a shelf and then, for some reason, discusses it; walls and Japanese beds and jokey-sized dishwashers all benefit from wheels; life is different when you live on a boat; it's important to find the right tool for the job; some people see forests, while others see trees; Merlin performs his very good Gordon Ramsey impression; Merlin also performs his very good David Lynch impression; in Follow-Up, we learn the extremely unsatisfying reason Personal Requests weren't working on a HomePod; there is discussion of the power of Siri alongside frustrations with its poor documentation; interesting bugs are discussed; your hosts explore the similarities between good documentation and good recipes; weird comic book feet are explored; tips on good media your hosts are enjoying; and, finally, there's some rapid-fire app and scripting recommendations. Posted on 5 January 2021 | 9:30 pm |
511: One Ringy-Dingy
DISCUSSED: Making a problem go away is not the same thing as solving the problem. Posted on 29 December 2020 | 8:30 pm |
510: I Cannot Afford Your Loyalty
DISCUSSED: The generational struggle to understand things we can't understand, dealing with other people, and Star Wars. Posted on 22 December 2020 | 9:00 pm |
509: The End of the River
Sometimes, no one can see the ball—let alone reach the ball. Posted on 15 December 2020 | 8:00 pm |
508: Oscarbation
DISCUSSED: Habits, cycles, and patterns of thinking. Why it's difficult to rehearse success—but surprisingly easy to rehearse failure. Posted on 8 December 2020 | 8:45 pm |
507: Voltron of Luck
Discussed: the paths of thought and emerging from a rut the size of the Grand Canyon. Posted on 1 December 2020 | 9:15 pm |
505: Everything is Everything
DISCUSSED: From Jerry Lewis to a drinking bird in a scant 80 minutes. Posted on 24 November 2020 | 7:30 pm |
504: Double Wrong
DISCUSSED: lot of projects going on!; praise for Nicki Minaj; some recent TV shows that are important to your hosts; Merlin is a little obsessed with a new Mac productivity app; interrogating problems with deliveries and porch pirates; vehicle theft can be very confusing; and, finally, some insight nobody asked for into Merlin's ambitious new hardware project. Posted on 17 November 2020 | 9:00 pm |